Extended Piano Techniques / 3.

In History: ca1900-ca2000 The age of the extended piano

3.4.7.10 1969- Helmut Lachenmann and Instrumental Musique Concrète

In 1965, Lachenmann (°1935) worked briefly at an electronic music studio (Ghent

University) but continued to focus almost solely on instrumental music. During that
decade, he developed a musical concept that he called musique concrète instrumentale,
in which

the sound events are chosen and organized so that the manner in which they are
generated is at least as important as the resultant acoustic qualities themselves.
Consequently those qualities, such as timbre, volume, etc., do not produce sounds
for their own sake, but describe or denote the concrete situation: listening, you
hear the conditions under which a sound- or noise-action is carried out, you hear
what materials and energies are involved and what resistance is encountered.1675

His increasing interest in the “anatomy” of sound made him integrate the mechanical and
physical conditions of instrumental and vocal sound production into his compositions.
Structure became less the means to expressive ends than a consequence of expressivity
as a pre-existing factor; serial ideas of order became regulatory and not generative.

From the end of the 1960’s onwards, Lachenmann's works exploitated sounds that he felt
were “uncontaminated,” not yet devalued by excessive use. Three solo pieces introduced
this aesthetic in Lachenmann’s oeuvre: Pression (1969–70) for solo cello, Dal niente
(Intérieur III) for clarinet, and Guero (1970) for solo piano. For all three pieces, the
instrument is treated as an object that has no musical past and to which any
instrumental identity and performance practical attitude can be applied.

In Guero Lachenmann treats the piano as the percussion instrument of that name. Only
two very basic performance techniques are used: gliding and plucking. No keys are
struck: what is heard is the noise of fingernails gliding over the spaces in between the
keys, tuning pegs or strings. Six gliding surfaces are determined, for which three
glissando techniques are prescribed: with the nail of the thumb, of one extended finger,
and of three curved fingers together. For the pizzicatos four types of objects can be
plucked: the front, lateral edge of the key; the tip of the tuning peg; the strings,
between the tuning pegs and the felt strip; the strings, in the normal (upper) area near
the felt strip. In total, eleven symbols are distinguished for the graphic score1676:

Glissandos:

over the front surface of the white keys with the nail of the thumb (when
towards the middle of the keyboard) or of the extended index finger (when
towards the edge)

on upper surface of the white keys with fingernail of an extended finger

on the upper surface of the white keys with the fingernails of three curved
fingers

1675
Quoted from Mosch 2002.
1676
Illustration are taken from the score published by Breitkopf & Härtel (Wiesbaden) – Edition Breitkopf 9018.

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 Extended Piano Techniques / 3. In History: ca1900-ca2000 The age of the extended piano

simultaneously over the upper surface of the white keys and the front of
the black keys with the fingernail of an extended finger

over the upper surface of the black keys with the fingernail of one or
possible several extended fingers

over tuning pegs, also possibly with several extended fingers

over strings between tuning pegs and felt strip

Pizzicatos:

at the front, lateral edge of the key

at the tip of the tuning peg

on the strings, between the tuning pegs and the felt strip

in the normal (upper) area of the strings, near the felt strip

The graphic score shows the actions, with the above symbols indicating the type, and the
curves the direction and speed. Volume and pressure are indicated independently. The
steeper the curve, the faster the glide; “knots” correspond more or less to individual
spaces between keys, pegs, strings and can produce a “slow motion” effect. For the
pizzicatos, the choice of keys, pegs, strings is free and to be varied. (Ex. 3.1072 –
3.1075.)

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 Extended Piano Techniques / 3. In History: ca1900-ca2000 The age of the extended piano

Example 3.1072. H. Lachenmann: Guero (1969), opening system. Reproduced with kind permission of Breitkopf
& Härtel.

Example 3.1073. H. Lachenmann: Guero (1969), 6th and 7th system. ‘Freely choose pizzicato-keys / if possible,
no repetition.” Reproduced with kind permission of Breitkopf & Härtel.

Example 3.1074. H. Lachenmann: Guero (1969), 14th system. Reproduced with kind permission of Breitkopf &
Härtel.

Example 3.1075. H. Lachenmann: Guero (1969), 17th system. Reproduced with kind permission of Breitkopf &
Härtel.

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